by Karsten Bonsdorf, USTA web newsroom correspondent

Six weeks ago the top Swedish trotter left the track at Bjerke in Oslo, Norway, limping, and one would have thought that an exceptional racing career had come to an end. On Sunday afternoon (July 3) Torvald Palema was back in Norway and for the third consecutive year he won the Grand Circuit race Forus Open at the Forus track in Stavanger.

Kanal 75 photo

Torvald Palema won the Forus Open.

Torvald Palema, with trainer/driver Ake Svanstedt in the bike, won in 1:54f and picked up the winner’s purse of $185,000. Torvald Palema now has lifetime earnings of $4.16 million. He has raced 98 times, winning 44 races.

Torvald Palema is sired by Hambletonian winner Alf Palema and out of Gina Roy — she by the Swedish trotter Speedy Min. Torvald Palema has been at stud and his first crop, counting 19 foals, can hit the track this year.

The French trotter Rapide Lebel, driven by Eric Raffin, was the heavy favorite in the Forus Open at 1-5, but as the gate left the field Rapide Lebel became rough gaited and lost 20 yards. He went back to trot, but later went off stride again and was disqualified.

The German trotter Unforgettable, with Arnold Mollema in the bike, was in command from the start, but after the first quarter Torvald Palema took over and stayed there to win by three-quarters of a length, followed by Unforgettable. The other French trotter in the field, Renommee d’Obret with Pierre Vercruysse, took third.